This invention relates to rack mountable systems and to components of such systems.
Electronic equipment for commercial purposes is often designed to be mounted in racks. The racks come in different sizes and configurations. As a result, systems designed for rack mounting are ideally provided with adjustable rack mountings, including, for example, rails and sliders for mounting in the rails.
One example of rack mountable equipment is a server computer, for example a Netra-t1 100 server manufactured by Sun Microsystems, Inc., details of which server can be found at http://www.sun.com/products-n-solutions/hw/networking/netrat/t1/. This existing rack mountable equipment has a housing that is provided with metal slides formed integrally with the computer system housing as a stepped portion of the end of the computer systems housing. In order to adapt the server computer to different racking systems, mounting kits are available for standard 19-, 23-, 24-in. and 600 mm racks (1 in=25.4 mm). The kit includes a pair of rails configured for the standard racking system concerned. The rails are made of metal. Metal has typically been used for such racking systems, because of the strength, low cost and the possibility of forming the slides integrally with the housing of the computer system units. However, the metal to metal contact between the slides and the rails is undesirable due to the metal on metal scraping noise as the units are inserted and the difficulty of sliding. As a result, it is usual to provide plastics edging strips of U-shaped cross section that fit over the edges of the rails that contact the metal slides of the computer system housing. This does avoid the scraping noises and improves the ease of sliding of the computer system. However, these plastics edging strips can become dislodged, potentially fouling within the racking systems and making the sliding of the computer systems housing more difficult. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide improved apparatus and methods of mounting rack mountable equipment within equipment housings.
An aspect of the invention provides a slide configured to be secured to a wall of a rack mountable system unit. The slide is formed from plastic material and has an elongate configuration to slide within a rack mountable rail, the slide tapering at one end thereof to facilitate insertion into the rail.
Another aspect of the invention provides a rack mountable system unit that includes a housing having first and second sides and first and second elongate plastics slides. Each slide is secured to a respective side of the system unit, is dimensioned to slide within a rack mountable rail and is tapered at one end thereof to facilitate insertion into the rail.
The use of a rail formed from plastics material (e.g., moulded from ABS-based plastics material) to have integral plastics bearing surfaces means that the need for separate bearing surfaces is avoided. Moreover, it means that a tapered end of the slide can readily be provided, which tapered end facilitates insertion of the end of the slide into the corresponding rail. The plastics slide can slide smoothly and silently along the rail, reducing the chance of the system unit getting stuck as it is slid into the racking.
The maximum height of the slide is dimensioned to slide within the rack mountable rail. In the present example, where the rack mountable unit has a low profile, the rack mountable rail has a height about the same as that of the sides of the system unit. In other embodiments, for example, the rack mountable unit can be higher than the rack mountable rail.
To further facilitate the sliding of the system unit along the racking, the sides include narrower portions alternating with portions dimensioned to slide within the rack mountable rail. This reduces the contact surface and consequently the sliding resistance.
The rack mountable unit typically has a front, a back, a top and a bottom as well as the first and second sides, each of said first and second elongate slides having a length that extends substantially along a respective slide from the front to the back thereof. In this case, the slide advantageously tapers at a rear end thereof to enable insertion of the rear of the system unit into the racking first.
The slide can be provided with a flange and a releasable fixing at a front end thereof for securing the system unit to the rack mountable rail. The releasable fixing is preferably a screw with a knurled head for manual operation thereof.
An upper surface of the slide can be provided with an alignment mark indicating an alignment position for a corresponding mark on a cover forming the top of the rack mountable unit for facilitating alignment of the mounting the cover on the rack mountable unit.
In an example of the invention, each slide is screwed to a respective side of the system unit.
In an embodiment of the invention the system unit is a computer server.
A further aspect of the invention provides a kit of parts including the rack mountable unit and a pair of rack mountable rails.
In an embodiment of the invention, the rack mountable rails are extendable to adapt to different racking systems. Each rack mountable rail has upper and lower bearing surfaces for engaging with upper and lower surfaces of one of the slides. Also, each rail has a flange at a front end thereof configured to mate with the releasable fixing of the slide.
A further aspect of the invention provides a method of mounting a rack mountable system unit in a rack. The method comprises: providing each of first and second sides of the system unit with a respective elongate plastics slides, each slide being secured to a respective side of the system unit, being dimensioned to slide within a rack mountable rail and tapering at one end thereof to facilitate insertion into the rail; and inserting the tapered end of the slides into respective rails and sliding the system unit along the rails.
The method can also include releasably securing the slides to the rails following insertion of the slides in the rails.
The method can also include initially adjusting adjustable rails to fit an available racking system and securing the rails to the racking system prior to insertion of the slides in the rails.
Further aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of an particular embodiment.